Letters 1/17

HELP OVERTURN CITIZENS UNITED AT THE NEXT CITY COUNCIL MEETING

On Feb. 6 at 7 p.m., the Central Oregon MoveToAmend.org affiliate will petition the Bend City Council to place a proposed resolution on the May ballot. If passed by the electorate, this resolution supports an Amendment to the Constitution and adds to the groundswell of Oregon communities, such as Eugene, Corvallis, Medford, Grants Pass and Portland, that have already issued similar resolutions.

Bend residents are strongly encouraged to attend in order to demonstrate the public's concern and belief that this matter should be placed before the voters on a local level.

This amendment is necessary to end the Supreme Court-created "corporate personhood" that establishes, by precedent, that corporations are entitled to enjoy constitutional rights that were intended solely for human beings. Today, these corporate "rights" empower them to deny citizens the right to full self-governance. For example: In Marshall v. Barlow, the court prohibited routine inspection of corporate property without warrant or prior permission (although this may permit a corporation to hide threats to public health and safety). 2) In International Dairy v. Amnestoy, the court struck down state laws requiring companies to disclose product origins (thus preventing us from knowing what is in our food ). 3) In First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, the court struck down state laws restricting corporate spending on ballot initiatives and referenda (thus enabling corporations to block citizen action by outspending grass-roots efforts ). 4) Since Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, the justices have struck down hundreds of local, state and federal laws, enacted to protect people from corporate harm based on the illegitimate premise that corporations are entitled to the same constitutional "rights" as people. 5) In the 2010 Citizens United v. FEC, the court's decision permits corporations to spend unlimited funds, through super PACs. This decision, summarized as "money equals free speech," led to the unprecedented corporate spending during the 2012 campaigns.

This is obscene as we citizens grapple with the effects of climactic and economic collapse, and the corporate influence has caused our Congress to be unable to function as it was designed!

In fact, through the corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council global corporations and member politicians write and vote on "model bills." These draft bills are then often introduced for consideration before legislative bodies (i.e. Congress) and the sponsors of these bills receive "scholarships" for their support while the corporations receive huge benefits when the model bills they helped write are passed.

Stand with your neighbors to protect our democracy!

Sheilajean Whitefield

IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING

This is for all the skeptics who believe that the Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film is a hoax. In order for you to prove that the film is a hoax is to make another film that looks just like the Patterson-Gimlin film. It's been 45 years since the film was made and so far no one has been able to make another just like it. So the Patterson-Gimlin film is real and so is Bigfoot.